Caseville mourns loss of historian, supporter

KELLY L. NIEBEL

Published 8:00 pm, Monday, August 1, 2005

CASEVILLE  "Ask Max."

That was the common refrain heard when someone wanted to know about Caseville, its residents and their history. And a week ago the community Max Nicholl loved said farewell to one of the town's favorite sons.

Nicholl, a lifelong Caseville resident, died July 21 at the age of 83. But he won't be forgotten anytime soon, for this longtime business owner and Caseville native left his mark on this shoreline community.

"Max, he knew a great deal about Caseville and the people … between Max and Bob (Quinn), one built the town and the other chronicled it," said longtime friend Bob Adams.

In 1942 Max and his brother W. Robert took over their fathers business, Caseville Lumber, which their father had started in 1932. In 1958 Max and his brother purchased  and operated for many years  the Pigeon Lumber Co.

Nicholl was widely regarded as one of the foremost authorities on Caseville history. Having been in business for so long, Nicholl built a good many of the year around and seasonal homes in the Caseville area. And if you wanted to know about a particular home or its owners, Nicholl could lay out the entire history before you  all from memory.

"As long as I've known Max he's just been a wonderful human being," said friend Nick Cusimano. "If you needed something, needed help, needed anything at all, Max was always there to help you."

Adams said his friend usually could be found with his wife, Doris. But, as much as he loved spending time with his wife, son, Joseph, and his grandchildren, there was another love in Nicholl's life.

"He loved baseball," Adams said. "He was quite a pitcher as a youngster, and he remained a huge baseball fan. Even as bad as they were, he listened to the Tigers every night and when his eyesight was getting bad, he still watched them on television  and he had a tendency to do some armchair quarterbacking."

Both Adams and Cusimano say their friend had a great sense of humor.

"Max had a really wonderful sense of humor. He was very quiet but very, very funny," Adams said.

"He was a dry humor type. He always had a little zinger for you," Cusimano recalled. "If you were sad, he had a little zinger and he'd make your day a little bit better. He was that type of person.

Cusimano and his wife, Dolores, have known Nicholl and his family for about 10 years now. He said the loss is as Adams describes it  huge.

"We all love Max very much. He was just a pleasure to have around."

Nicholl was around at most town functions, it seems. He was a member of the Caseville Eagles #3690, Caseville American Legion Jean Post #543, Knights of Columbus #8042, and St. Roch Catholic Church, where he had served as an usher. Nicholl was a passionate and dedicated supporter of the school as well as the town. And he was a loyal friend.